Cast Away Page #12

He blows some more. A fragile crimson spark appears.

CHUCK:

Careful now, careful...

He gently places the nest of shavings in the kindling, then

blows on it with utmost care, as if he were holding life

itself. He shreds his money and business cards over the tiny

flame.

Suddenly, the evening breeze lifts the nest out of the

kindling. Desperate, Chuck grabs it. Trying to shield it

with his body, he grabs some palm fronds and jams them into

the sand, trying to make a windbreak. They rustle and shake

and blow over.

The wind blows harder. Chuck jams some rocks in a circle to

make an eddy. But the fire is out. No words now, just a

loud, primal groan of pure despair.

And then, into his vision floats...smoke.

Chuck looks down. A wisp of smoke curls up from the nest of

tinder! Chuck blows on it gently. Suddenly a tiny tongue of

flame flickers and catches on the kindling!

CHUCK:

Yes! Yes! Yes!

He feeds in some more twigs, more tinder. The flames lick

out, catch, grow.

CHUCK:

If I ever forgot to thank you God, and I

am sure I did, thank you now.

EXT. BEACH - WIDE - NIGHT

The fire burns on the beach. Chuck rushes about, piling on

driftwood.

EXT. BEACH - CLOSER

Chuck darts into the jungle and returns dragging a huge log.

He throws it on the fire. We see his face in the light of

the fire. He is exultant. He dances. He sings at the top

of his lungs. Papa-ooo-mow-mow!

Chuck throws another huge log on the fire. Papa-papa-papa-

oooo! The log splutters and explodes, sending up a huge

shower of sparks that climb and sparkle in the

darkness...until they merge with the stars.

EXT. PALM GROVE - MORNING

Chuck makes a mark on the tree. Around it he carves a flame

-- the day he mastered fire.

EXT. PALM GROVE - LATER THAT MORNING

Chuck sharpens his spear with his stone knife. Then he

sticks it in the flame to harden it, pulls it out, checks it,

scrapes some more.

EXT. BEACH - DAY

Chuck wades in the water with his spear. Suddenly he stabs

it down. A crab is on the end.

EXT. BEACH - HALF HOUR LATER

Chuck removes a crab from out of the fire and breaks a

steaming crab claw. Chuck takes a bite of the flaky white

meat. Ahhh. It tastes great. He takes another bite -- and

flinches.

CHUCK:

Damn tooth!

He fumbles for his Tylenol and takes two pills.

EXT. SUMMIT - SUNSET

Chuck stands on the summit, looking in all directions. Then,

something on the island brings Chuck's eyes back from their

distant focus on the horizon. From down on the beach,

beneath the palm grove, there curls a thin column of smoke.

Chuck lets a bit of pride creep into his face as he sees it.

He kneels down and begins to build a signal fire.

EXT. BEACH - NIGHT - LATER

Chuck curls up in his bed of palm fronds. The fire burns.

Around it is a large stack of crab shells. He stares into

the fire.

EXT. PALM GROVE - MORNING

Chuck makes another mark on the tree. He has circled the

tree with marks several times now.

EXT. BEACH - DAY

Using a safety pin and some suturing thread, Chuck fishes

carefully. Suddenly he jerks his hand back. On the end is a

flopping fish.

EXT. PALM GROVE - DAY

Chuck takes a cooked fish off the fire and mixes it with some

breadfruit. He eats the soft mixture, chewing carefully, but

his tooth hurts even worse. There are only a few Tylenol

tablets left. He carefully cuts one in half and swallows it.

EXT. SUMMIT - AFTERNOON

Chuck arrives with the wood for the night. He stares out to

sea as usual, but this time he sees something different.

WHALES. He sees whales. Leaping. Broaching. Spouting.

Water pouring off fins and flukes. Moving. Going somewhere.

CHUCK:

Beautiful. So beautiful.

Chuck stares at them, stares until the ocean darkens and he

can see them no more. It's late now.

Leaving, he takes one last look, as he always does. And

another remarkable sight greets his eyes. There, on the

horizon, just below the evening star, is a...LIGHT. He

stares at it, fixed.

CHUCK:

A star. It's a star.

But then he stares at it really hard.

CHUCK:

It's a ship.

EXT. WOODS - TREE - NEXT DAY

A tree shakes and moves, quivers...

CHUCK:

Timberrr!

...then slowly falls with a CRASH!

CHUCK:

I heard that...

Chuck holds his surgeon's saw over the stump. He walks to

another tree and begins to saw his way into the trunk.

EXT. BEACH - SERIES OF SHOTS

Up above the high tide line, Chuck lashes a log to a row of

five logs already joined with vines.

CHUCK:

No more waiting. Take action.

Chuck sews several designer dresses together with needle and

suturing thread for a sail.

CHUCK:

That's right. Take action.

He cuts bamboo for the mast. He carves driftwood for an oar.

He fills gourds with water, stores breadfruit and coconut as

he sings "Fly Me to the Moon" to himself.

He ties the sail to the mast and extends it with a bamboo

boom lashed on with palm fiber and video tape. He ties on

the doctor's kit and the FedEx box with the angel wings.

He examines his handiwork: a finished raft.

He brings out his old life preserver and puts it on, then

grabs hold of one corner of the raft to pull it down to the

beach. It doesn't budge. He tries to pull it again.

Nothing. He leans his back into it and pushes with his legs.

Nothing. He collapses on the beach, his breath coming in

heaves.

CHUCK:

How could I be so stupid?

He bangs himself on the head, over and over.

CHUCK:

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

EXT. PALM GROVE - NIGHT

Chuck throws new firewood on the dwindling fire. It comes

back to life. Meteors streak again across the sky. He

stares at the indifferent stars. The moon is almost full.

Shadows of palm trees sway on the sand.

EXT. BEACH - NIGHT

Chuck stands by the edge of the water, which shimmers in the

reflected light of the fire. A wave come in, licks at his

toes. Lifts up a coconut husk, sweeps it gently out. Chuck

watches, gets an idea.

EXT. BEACH - NIGHT

He begins to dig in the sand by the raft. He grabs the oar

and digs faster, making a trench up to where the raft is.

EXT. BEACH - MORNING

The rising tide floods water into the trench. Chuck rocks

the raft back and forth. It floats! As the wave recedes, it

takes the raft with it. Chuck has to run beside it.

CHUCK TRYING TO ESCAPE - MONTAGE

Over and over, we see Chuck capsize at the reef. The first

time he has a bandage on his leg. He tries everything --

different rafts, different approaches, but each time the

ocean spits him back.

EXT. LAGOON - DAY

Defeated and utterly exhausted, Chuck swims back from his

latest failure. He wades back ashore with the FedEx box and

throws it on the ground by the palm tree. He has tried so

hard to escape, so incredibly hard, done everything humanly

possible and beyond. He rips off his life preserver, throws

it into the underbrush, then collapses on the beach.

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